Spring-wound cord-controlled take-up reel



Dec, 25, 1945. A MELETT! 2,391,849

SPRING WOUND CORD-CONTROLLED TAKE-UP REEL Filed Nov. 4, 1944 Patented fiec. 25, 1945 SPRING -WOUND CORD- CONTROLLED TAKE-UP REEL Adolph Meletti, Philadelphia, Pa.,' assignor to Vacuum Cleaner Corporation of America, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 4, 1944, Serial No. 561,864

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to certain improvements in spring-wound cord-controlled take-up reels, and it relates more particularly to a construction in such reels which will be controllable by a pull on the cord, so as to lock the reel in any extended or paid-out position of the cord and so that it may be released, by a short pull on the cord, so that it will thereafter re-wind the cord. a

The present invention further relates to the construction in spring-wound cord-controlled take-up reels which will be more certain and dependable in its locking, releasing and re-winding action, and which will be simpler in construction and more economical to manufacture, and which will also be more durable. For the purpose of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawing a form thereof which is at present preferred, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and organizations of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

In the accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters indicate like parts,

Figure 1 represents a front elevational view, on a reduced scale, of one embodiment of the springwound cord-controlled take-up reel embodying my present invention.

Figure 2 represents a, side elevational view of one embodiment of my present invention, with the outer sheet-metal casing partly broken away, to expose to view the ratchet-wheel, the lockingpawl, and the pawl-retracting cam, viewed in the direction of arrow 2 on Figure 1, but on a scale approximately 4% times the scale of Figure 1, this figure showing the mechanism in its locked position.

Figure 3 represents a section on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 represents a side elevational view, similar to that shown in Figure 2, but with the mechanism in the unlocked position, namely, in the position in which the re-winding spring is freed of the locking action of the pawl and may rewind the cord.

Figure represents a fragmentary side elevational view similar to those shown in Figures 2 and 4, but with the outer sheet-metal casing removed and with the flange-plate l5 of the reel also broken away, this view showing the mechanism in an intermediate "unlocked position in which the cam has dropped into one of the adapted to operate.

notches in the ratchet-wheel; in which intermediate position the cam can be caused to lock or unlock, at will, depending on the direction of initial rotation, for a short distance, determined by the manipulation of the paid-out portion of the cord.

The reel, shown generally in Figures 1 and 3, is of the type adapted for taking-up" and for paying-out an electrical cord, and permitting electrical connections between the stationary housing or support for said reel and the anchored inner ends of the electrical cord.

The reel, exemplified in the embodiment shown generally in Figure 1, comprises a central drum hub 1, upon which the cord 8 is wound, revolubly mounted upon a central shaft'9 having two outer terminal trunnion-like portions l0 and II, by means of which it is stationarily mountable in any suitable stationary housing or support forming a part of or carried by the particular machine or appliance on which the reel is to be used. The hub 1 may be formed of two hollow chamberforming portions I2 and I3, respectively; portion l2 housing the electrical collector rings and brushes, and the portion I 3 housing the flat spiral take-up spring which intervenes the stationary shaft 9 and the revoluble hub I, with the inner end of the spring anchored to the stationary shaft 9 and the outer end of the spring fastened to the interior of the hub-portion l3. The flanges l 4 and I5 may be formed integrally with the hubportions l2 and I3, respectively, or separately therefrom, but aflixed thereto.

On one side of the reel, as, for instance, and against the flange plate l5 thereof, a shallowdished sheet-metal housing I6 is provided, which may be affixed thereto by riveting or by screws or by any other-suitable means. Within the housing or casing IS, a ratchet-wheel I9 is provided, having one or more notches, as, for instance, notches 2ll-a and 20-4), and corresponding dwells 2l-a and 2l-b, and being fixed to the stationary shaft 9 by any suitable keying means, as, for instance, by having a pair of flats 22 milled on a reduced-diameter portion 23 of the shaft 9, and having the central. shaftreceiving opening 24 of the ratchet-wheel l9 similarly shaped to match the two "flats" 22. A pawl 25 is pivotally mounted at 26, in generally the same plane as the ratchet-wheel l9, and is provided with a heel 21. on the opposite side of the pivot 26, upon which heel 21 the pivoted cam 28 is The cam 28 is pivoted at 29, and is, likewise, in the same plane as the ratchet-wheel l9 and the pawl 25. The pivots 26 and 25 for the pawl 25 and cam 25. respectively. may be supported by the outer sheet-metal casing II, as, for instance, by being riveted or screwed thereto or they may be similarly supported by the sheet-metal flange-disc II, or both, or, they may be riveted to the outer casing l5 and have their inner ends supported by a fiat sheet-metal pivot-bearing plate 55 carried by the sheet-metal flange disc 15. Likewise, one or both of the pivots 25 and 25 may serve, along with similar spacer rivets or screws i1 and I5, to fasten the shallow-dishedcasing i5 the flangedisc i of the reel.

The pawl 25 is spring-tensioned so that it will constantly be urged in the direction of the ratchet-wheel i5, by means of ahelical tension-spring 5|, or the like, one end of which is hooked to the spring-anchorage ear 52 of-said pawl, and the other end of which is hooked onto the springanchorage 55 extending from or pressed out of either the sheet-metal of the casing II or the sheet-metal of the flange II.

The cam 25 is likewise provided with a springanchorage ear 55, and also with a pawl-retracting arm 55, which is in operative juxtaposition to the heel 21 of the pawl 25. A helical tensionspring 51 has one of its ends hooked onto the spring-anchorage ear 55 of the cam 25, while its other end is hooked onto the spring-anchorage 55 carried by or pressed out of the sheet-metal of the casing l5 or of the reel-flange I5. The spring-anchorage 55 is so disposed in relation to the pivot 25 and the pawl 28, that the spring 51 will at all times urge the cam-point 25 toward and against the ratchet-wheel l9, regardless of whether the cam point 25 is to the left of the center-line" 59 which passes through the axes of the shaft 5 and pivot 29, as in the "locked" position of the mechanism in Figure 2, or whether the cam-point 25 is to the right of such centerline" 55.

When in the locked position, as in Figure 2, it is merely necessary to pull on the extended or paid-out portion of the cord 5 a very short distance, in the direction of the arrow 45, thereby to turn the reel, and, with it, the pawl 25 and cam 25 (in relation to the stationary ratchet-wheel I!) in the direction of the arrow 55-1' for something approximately slightly more than one-half of a revolution of the reel. This rotational motion of the reel and of the pawl 25 and cam 25, first causes the pawl 25 to be "kicked" out of the notch 25-0, because of the gradual inclination of the surface ll thereof which is at an acute angle to the radius from a pivotal center 25 of the pawl (whereas the opposite pawl-surface 52 is approximately at a right angle to such radius) thereby lifting the pawl 25 onto the dwell 2l-a, and as the pawl 25 further recedes from the notch 25-a (in the direction of the arrow 55-r) the cam-point 25 moves towards. and finally drops into, notch 25-1), in something less than one half a revolution after the pawl 25 has been kicked out of the notch 25-11, resulting in the intermediate position or phase of the mechanism shown in Figure 5. If the operator then releases the extended or paid-out portion of the cord 5, in the direction of the arrow 55, the spiral take-up spring (not shown) within the springchamber portion I! of the huh I, will start and continue revolving the reel in the direction of the arrow |3r, retracting or taking up the cord 5 in the direction of the arrow 55, as fast as it is released by the hand of the operator. This contion of the arrow 45-13 from the intermediate position or phase of the mechanism shown in Figure 5. results from the switching of'the campoint 25 to the right of the "center-line 55, to the position shown in Figure 4, by the initial rotary motion of the reel in the direction of the arrow 55--r from the intermediate position shown in Figure 5. Thus, the first bit of rota-- tional motion in the direction of the arrow 45-1, from the intermediate position shown in Figure 5, "kicks" the cam-point 25 out of the notch 25-17, to the right of the center-line" 55, and onto the dwell 2 l-a, and this cam-motion brings the pawl-retracting arm 55 of the cam 25 down onto the heel 21 of the pawl 25, thereby raising the pawl 25. entirely clear of the ratchet-wheel,

resulting in the "unlocked phase or position of the mechanism shown in Figure 4.

,While continued take-up rotation in the direction of the arrow 55-1 permits the cam-point 25 to drop into the notch 25a and then again into notch 25b and then again into notch 25-a, and so on, and thus to momentarily revert back to the Figure 5 phase and to release its hold on the heel 21 of the pawl 25, yet such momentary reversion to the Figure 5 phase does not permit the pawl 25 to lock into either of the notches 25-11 or 25-!) because the circumferential setting spacing of the pawl 25 and cam-point 25 is such that when the cam-point 25 drops into a notch in a Figure 5 phase, the pawl 25 will be juxtaposedto one of the dwells 2l--a or 2i--b, and before the pawl 25 reaches a position opposite to the next notch 25-01 or 25-11, the campoint 25 has already been "kicked" out to the right of the center-line" 55 and onto the next dwell 25-a or 25-!) (by the continued rotation in the direction of the arrow 45-1) so as to again depress the heel 21 of the pawl 25 and thus again 40 raise the pawl 25 clear of the ratchet-wheel by the time the pawl 25 reaches the position opposite the next notch 25-0 or 25b. In this manner continuous take-up rotation may be maintained, without ever bringing the mechanism into the locked phase of Figure 2, so long as the cord is permitted to recede in the direction of the arrow 45; that is, after the mechanism has first been released" from the Figure 2 phase into the Figure 5 phase by first pulling the cord out slightly (Just enough to drop the cam-point 25 into the next notch 25-4: or 25-h) and then releasing the cord in the direction of the arrow 55.

In order again to bring the mechanism into the "lockedf phase of Figure 2, in any extended or paid-out position of the cord 5, it is only necessary again to give the cord a short pull when the mechanism is through one of its Figure 5 phases, when the cam-point 25 is in one of the notches 25,a or 25-h, thereby "kicking" the cam-point 25 out of the notch to the left of the center-line" 55 and onto the dwell to the right of the notch, so that its cam-retracting arm 55 can no longer depress heel 21 of the pawl 25, and by then slackening the cord, the reel will revolve slightly in the direction of the arrow 55r until the now-unlocked pawl 25 drops into the next notch and thereby locks the reel in the Figure 2 phase.

Thus, it will be seen that whether the reel becomes unlocked as in Figure 4, or "locked as in Figure 2, depends entirely on whether the campoint 25 is "kicked out of the notch (from the intermediate phase of the mechanism shown in Figure 5) to the right of the center-line" 55 into tinuous take-up rotation of the reel in the dlIW- 7 the 81 4 phase or to the left of the centerline" 39 into the Figure 2 phase. This, in turn, is determined by whether the initial rotary motion from the intermediate phase shown in Figure is in the direction of the arrow 43-1' or in the direction of thearrow 4llr. If the initial rotary motion (from the Figure 5 phase) is in the direction 43-1, by merely permitting the cord to recede from the grip of the operator in the direction of the arrow 43, then the cam-point 28 is kicked" out of the notch to the right of the "center-line" 39 and the mechanism is brought into the unlocked" or re-winding phase of Figure 4 and a continuous take-up rotation in the direction of the arrow 43-1 is permitted, while if the initial rotary motion (from the Figure 5 phase) is in the direction of the arrow 40-1 as by a short jerk on the cord 8 in the direction of the arrow 40, then the cam-point 28 is kicked out of the notch to the left of the center-line 39, thereby bringing the mechanism into its "locked phase shown in Figure 2, after but a slight countor-rotational motion in the direction of the arrow 431', namely, just suflicient to drop the pawl 25 into the next notch.

In withdrawing the cord 8, in the direction of the arrow 40, the dropping of the cam-point 25 into one of the recesses in the ratchet-wheel l9 (which is the recess which immediately follows the recess just vacated by the pawl 25) produces an audible clicking" sound, which acts as an audible signal which will be heard issuing from the positive locking and unlocking mechanism. The first "click after the cord has been pulled a short distance in the direction of the arrow 0 indicates that the mechanism is then in the releasing-position or phase. If, upon hearing this click," the cord is permitted to be pulled back into the reel, it will be continuously rewound by the reel. If, however, instead of permitting the cord to be retracted directly upon hearing first the "click," it is, instead, pulled just slightly beyond the point where it clicks, and then the tension on the cord released, it will settle itself into the locking position shown in Figure 2. Thus to switch the mechanism from the intermediate position of Figure 5 (where the "click is heard) into either the unlocking position of Figure 4 or the locking position of Figure 2, it is merely necessary either to release the cord (to rewind it) or to pull the cord just a little further and then relax the tension (to flock the mechanism).

The two side-surfaces 44 and of the campoint 28 being both at an acute angle to the pivotal radius bisecting the cam-point 28, the campoint 28 is incapable, in and of itself, of making any locking engagement in either of the notches, regardless of the direction of the rotation, because, on account of thisangularity, the lips of the notches will kick" the cam-point 28 out of the notch, in either direction. Thus, the cam, in effect, acts'as a switch, to switch,the mechanism from the unlocked" to the locked" position, and, vice versa, by simply causing the cam to kick out in one direction or the other, in respect to the "center-line 39.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A spring-wound and cord-controlled takeup reel, including a pivotally mounted reel, relatively stationary pivotation means therefor, takeup means operatively deposed between said reel and said pivotation means, tending to rotate said reel in a take-up direction, a ratchet-wheel fixedly carried by said pivotation means and having a recess and having a dwell on either side of said recess, a pivoted pawl carried by said reel in operative alignmentwith said ratchet-wheel having a locking face in the direction of the take-up motion of the reel and having a nonlocking face in th direction of the pay-out motion of the reel, a spring connected with said pawl urging said pawl in the direction of the ratchet-wheel, a pivoted cam carried by said reel in operative juxtaposition to saidratchet-wheel and to said pawl and having a cam-point extending into the notch of said ratchet-wheel when said notch is on a center-line of the reelpivotation and cam-pivotation; said cam-point having non-locking cam-surfaces on both sides thereof, a spring connected with said cam and urging said cam-point toward said ratchet-wheel when deflected out of said notch in either direction, and means on said pivoted pawl and means on said cam, in operative juxtaposition to each other, whereby said cam will deflect the pawl clear of the ratchet-wheel when the cam-point is deflected in the direction of the pay-out rotation of the reel and whereby the cam will free the pawl for locking engagement with the notch 01' the ratchet-wheel when the cam-point is defiected in the direction of the take-up rotation of the reel.

2. A spring-wound and cord-controlled takeup reel, includinga pivotally mounted hub onto which the cord is to be wound, relatively stationary pivotation means therefor, a spring operatively deposed between said hub and said pivotation means, tending to rotate said hub in a take-up direction, a notched wheel fixedly carried by said pivotation means and having two recesses or notches and having dwells between said recesses, a pivoted pawl carried by said hub in operative alignment with said notched-wheel having a locking face in the direction of the takeup motion of the hub and having a non-locking face in the direction of the pay-out motion of the hub, a spring connected with said pawl urging said pawl in the direction of the notchedwheel, a pivoted cam carried by said hub in operative juxtaposition to said notched-wheel and to said pawl and having a cam-point adapted to extend into a recess of said notched-wheel when said recess is on a center-line of the hubpivotation and cam-pivotation; said cam-point having non-locking cam-surfaces on both sides thereof, a spring connected with said camand urging said cam-point toward said notchedwheel when deflected out of said recess in either direction, and a, heel-like arm carried by said pivoted pawl and an arm on said cam, in operative juxtaposition to said heel-like arm of the pawl, so arranged that juxtaposition to said cam will deflect the pawl clear of the notched-wheel when the cam-point is deflected in the direction of the pay-out rotation of the hub and whereby the cam will free the pawl for locking engagement with the recess of the notched-wheel when the cam-point is deflected in the direction of the take-up rotation of the hub.

3. An automatic cord-controlled locking and releasing mechanism for swing-wound take-up reels having a pivotally mounted hub onto which theoordistobewouniandhavingrelatively stationary pivotation means therefor, and a spring operatively deposed between said uh and said pivotation means tending to rotate said hub in a take-up direction; said automatic cord oon-.

trolled locking and releasing mechanism includinganotehedwheelflmedlycarriedhysaidpivotationmeansandhavingtworeoessesornotches and having dwells between said reeeses, a pivoted pawi carried by said hub in operative alignment with said notched-wheel having a locking face in the direction of the take-up motion oi. tbehubandhavinganon-lockingfaceinthe direction of the pay-out motion of the huh, a spring connected with said pawl urging said pawl in the direction of the notched-wheel, a pivoted cam carried by said hub in operative juxtaposition to said notched-wheel and to said pawl and go asonsao mm mm 

